Satisfaction with rehabilitation in relation to self-perceived quality of life and function among patients with stroke - a 12 month follow-up.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke causes complex disability and function, and perceived quality of life has been shown to correlate with satisfaction with care as well as with life in general among stroke patients. The aim of this study was to study the relation of satisfaction with how rehabilitation was provided with self-perceived quality of life, self-perceived function and rehabilitation received, 12 months after the incidence. METHOD: The subjects were assessed 12 months after the onset of stroke. The Barthel index was used to measure function, and the EuroQol-5D to measure quality of life. To measure satisfaction with how rehabilitation was provided, a questionnaire from the Swedish Stroke Register was used. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-three patients participated in the follow-up, 137 women and 146 men, aged between 42 and 95 years (mean age 75.2, SD 11.8). For the majority of patients rehabilitation was initiated at in-hospital care (directly after onset). One hundred and sixty-eight patients considered that rehabilitation was well provided for. Sixty-six regarded that the rehabilitation was only partly provided for and 35 that it was not provided for at all. High value on Barthel Index was associated with satisfaction with how rehabilitation was provided for (OR 2.81). Also, rehabilitation on three or more levels was negatively associated with satisfaction with rehabilitation provision (OR 0.24) and so was being male (OR 0.49). CONCLUSION: In this study, patients with higher values on Barthel Index were more satisfied with how rehabilitation was provided for. However, male patients and patients who received rehabilitation on three or more levels of care were less satisfied. Given the assumption that patients with more severe dysfunction after stroke are being rehabilitated on more levels, this might imply that it is not the amount of rehabilitation that gives satisfaction but the patients self-perceived function after rehabilitation.